The scrubbing utensils heretofore proposed are prepared from various materials in many different shapes. Typical of such utensils are those in the form of a short bundle of fibers and prepared by bundling straw, hemp palm or like plant fibers or synthetic resin fibers in an elliptical shape, those made from metal by bundling thin narrow strips of aluminum or like metal, and those in the form of a piece of sponge for use as it is or as wrapped in netting. FIG. 16 shows such a scrubbing utensil as an example. The utensil is prepared by sandwiching a sponge 2a between two flexible sheets 1, 1a of cloth, and stitching the two sheets 1, 1a together as at 15 along their edges while pressing the periphery of the sponge (see Unexamined Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 55551/1994).
When the article to be cleaned is scrubbed with a conventional scrubbing utensil, the outer periphery of the utensil is held with the fingers of the hand, with the fingertips projecting outwardly of the utensil. While the utensil is being used for scrubbing in this state, it is likely that the fingertip will be forced against the article or come into striking contact with a sharp portion of the article to become damaged or injured. Further scorched soils on a pan or solid greasy soils are likely to lodge inside the nail tip, necessitating much time for removal.